The entire cabinet of Lebanon resigned after continuous protests by the citizens of the country accusing them of their negligence towards responding to the explosion. Their Health Minister Hamad Hasan had reported that this was a decision that was taken after extreme pressure was put on the government to respond to the explosion. This announcement was made by Prime Minister Hassan Diab on the country’s national television on Monday.
The prime minister presented himself in the speech as a reforming leader blocked by endemic corruption dating back years. The Lebanese Parliament will now have to decide on a new prime minister – a process involving the same sectarian politics at the root of protesters’ discontent.
Meanwhile, President Michel Aoun has asked the government to stay on in a caretaker capacity until a new cabinet is formed.
This comes in the wake of the recent explosion of several thousand tons of ammonium nitrate in Beirut which caused widespread damage throughout the city. Following this, protests broke out throughout the city of Beirut, by angry citizens who question the country’s bad response to the disaster. Notably, the country was already undergoing a bad recession, and post this blast, hundreds were pushed into poverty and unemployment.